by Aamer Madhani, USA TODAY

by Aamer Madhani, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON - With violence at its highest level in Iraq since 2008, President Obama told Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Friday that the U.S. was committed to helping the Iraqis establish an "inclusive, democratic and prosperous" country.

But in brief remarks to reporters after a nearly two-hour meeting at the White House with al-Maliki, Obama appeared also to put the onus on the Iraqi premier, saying the best way to honor lives lost during the Iraq war is for al-Maliki to work to bring about a functioning democracy in his country.

Iraq is slated to hold its next national election in April, and Obama encouraged al-Maliki to make sure that Iraq quickly passes an elections law, paving the way for the vote to happen on time.

Obama hopes that a new round of elections in which the country's minority Sunni population is more active could help stem some of the violence. The United Nations reported on Friday that 979 people were killed in violence in Iraq in October - the same number as in September.

"We were encouraged by the work that Prime Minister Maliki has done in the past to ensure that all people inside of Iraq - Sunni, Shia and Kurd - feel that they have a voice in their government," Obama said. "And one of the most important expressions of that will be elections next year."

The two leaders also discussed the ongoing civil war in Syria, Iran and Iraq's efforts at improving its oil production.

The visit to Washington by al-Maliki comes nearly two years after Obama withdrew the last U.S. troops from Iraq and ended the eight-year American war.

Ahead of his Oval Office meeting with Obama, al-Maliki said in a speech in Washington on Thursday that he needs significantly more help from the United States - including more weapons and greater sharing of U.S. intelligence - to stem the bloodshed that has left more than 7,000 Iraqi civilians dead already this year.

When al-Maliki last visited the White House two years ago, the two sides were unable to come to agreement on a plan that would have allowed the Americans to maintain a small residual presence.

At the time, al-Maliki maintained a neutral position on whether Americans would stay or go. The public pressure was too great on al-Maliki from his parliament to allow him to agree to the American demand that U.S. forces that remained in the country beyond 2011 must maintain immunity from prosecution under Iraqi law.

While neither the Iraqis nor the Americans are interested in anything that resembles putting U.S. trainers on the ground in Iraq, al-Maliki has warmed to the idea of greater U.S. engagement on security and made clear that he's certainly interested in getting his hands on more U.S. weaponry and intelligence. The Iraqi leader reiterated on Friday his desire to see more outside help in Iraq's counterterrorism effort.

The situation in Iraq has also been complicated by the ongoing civil war in neighboring Syria that has left 115,000 dead. In a speech on Thursday in Washington at the U.S. Institute of Peace, al-Maliki said the surge in violence in his country was directly related to the civil war next door.

But in Washington, American lawmakers' view of al-Maliki has dimmed and many put the blame for Iraq's deteriorating situation squarely on his shoulders.

Lawmakers also complain that al-Maliki has ignored U.S. calls to prevent Iran from using Iraqi airspace for delivery of weapons to Bashar Assad's regime in Syria.

In his public comments, Obama seemed to downplay their differences on the Syria situation.

"We agreed that it's in the interest of both countries to try to bring about a political settlement, a political transition, inside of Syria," Obama said.

Retired Gen. David Petraeus, who led the U.S. troop surge in 2006-07 that some credit with pulling Iraq out of the worst of the fighting, warned in a Foreign Policy commentary earlier this week that the situation was now so dire that the past sacrifices of U.S. troops could be squandered.